One of the most important connections that can be formed in the tourism industry, at least on the ground level, is between tour guide and tourist. In most cases, the initial introduction and then the tour itself is what can define a tourist’s stay in Belize. So, the BTB wants to ensure that the tour guides at the Fort Street Tourism Village know exactly how to make tourists really enjoy their visit to Belize. Thats why The BTB invited Sharon Banfield Bovell to conduct a 3 day training course on public relations skills. Bovell is a regional human resources development consultant from the Caribbean Tourism Organization. Today we spoke to BTB’s Manager from the Destination Planning and Cruise Department. She told us more about the importance of the workshop.
Shola Babb - Destination Planning & Cruising Dept.
“The workshop was called Taxi Pride training, however it was not just for the taxis it was also for the other tour guides within the Fort Street tourism zone. It was to work on their people skills, on their customer service, give them other little titbits that they could use when giving their tours. So it was really to enhance what they already have. We have to understand that it is a business, so we have to separate it from how we usually behave and then become professional when we put on our uniforms and we get our taxes together and we were out there to work. So we can’t really speak the way we would usually speak or shout over the street to somebody else to have a conversation, you have to be a little bit more professional. The trainer also went through explaining that your car or your vehicle that you’re taking the tours in is your office, so you have to make sure that it’s clean, you have to make sure that you are clean, that you are presentable, that you are on time, punctual, not Belize time but the time that you set the tour for. So she really locked on usual Caribbean behaviour and try to explain that it’s a business and you have to operate yourself as a professional. We also touched on how important tourism is to the Caribbean and the country so the trainer not only explained what tourism means to Belize but also how it relates to the Caribbean and also how that again relates to the entire world and how important the drivers are, their part in the entire tourism industry.â€
Maria Echeverria - Tour Guide, Chukka
“The training was an exceptional training; Ms. Sharon herself from Barbados did an exceptional job. She had us very well in tuned learning new skills not only in Belize but for the Caribbean region. As tour guides sometimes we get carried away and we forget certain techniques that make us exceptional tour guides and she reinforced everything. From the very beginning, meeting, greeting, through the duration of the tour to even how to conclude a tour and make a guest feel wanted and for that guest to want to come back to the country of Belize. So in general it was an exceptional training.â€
Courtney Weatherburne
“What specifically will you take away from it to help you personally? What are some of the things that you saw that you said okay, I need to improve on this, okay I already know how to do this, I’ll just do this better.â€
Maria Echeverria
“One of the things that was outstanding to me was what she said taking a miserable moment and turning it into a magical moment because sometimes we have guests coming into our country that for some reason or the other something had happened on the cruise or on the tender ride coming so they are already coming with this negative perspective. It has nothing to do with your service that you are delivering to them but they are already coming with this moment of misery as she called it. So us as a tour guide from the moment you greet them you need to try to turn this entire moment of misery into a moment of magic.â€
34 tour guides participated in the workshop. The workshop was held on Friday the 3rd into Saturday and then on Monday the 6th.
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